American Idol: Are Indian call centers skewing the vote?

Come on ppl, i'm indian and watch american idol whenever i find myself home early with my wife..even though sanjaya is indian, we are equally shocked..if u know the call centre employee demographic in india, trust me they are not the one that watch these shows...lol

of course, if u hate the fact that indians have taken some american jobs then come out an say it, dont beat around the bush...after all america spoke out and taught capitalism to the erstwhile socialist nation that is india..now be a good sport ;-)

lastly, VM, no one's gonna believe u giving raises for ppl voting, if u had that much biz acumen, you wouldnt own a business..

Dear No. 59 (JZ), You seem to take offense at my comments, which is totally your right, but please don't twist my words. I was in no way "extremely defensive" in stating that I felt someone else's comments about "hormone-driven prepubescent" teenage girls was stereo-typing! The person making those statements was criticizing the original author's comments, labeling THEM stero-typing. I was merely pointing out that that individual was just as guilty of "stereo-typing" by their comments on teenagers as they claimed the author to be. There are, no doubt, many teenage girls voting for Sanjaya. I never insinuated that was some "horrific embarrassing/wrong" situation. Why would you jump to that conclusion?
As for saying that that is the more "flattering, less-embarrassing" reason; what is up with that? The author merely QUESTIONS the reasoning behind Sanjaya's popularity, and asks whether or not the idea of Indian call centers being behind it in some way is plausible! Why are YOU so defensive? Give the author a break. We are all entitled to our opinions, and the fact that we live in a country where we can voice them and question things WITHOUT fear of being prejudiced against is something we should not take for granted.
I don't disagree that Sanjaya looks like a very nice kid. But this is a singing competition, that SHOULD be judged on singing ability; not looks! The original author had a legitimate question, and whether or not anyone agrees or disagrees with him; he has every right to voice his opinion. As does everyone else. You included. My only problem with your comments is that you misconstrued mine. Just setting the record straight.

Is this person employed by AOL? They seem a bit racist to me.

There are plenty of voters here in the US that want Sanjaya to win because he's so bad. The website "Vote for the Worst" has been promoting voting for Sanjaya as a way to mock the show (http://www.votefortheworst.com/). This is how Taylor won last season too.

Dear Jethro and Ellie-Mae, AI is not shown in India, Indian Idol is. It's go-live time would be about 4-5AM if it were. Uploaded and downloaded and called before the 2 hour voting window is closed at dawn? No. Sanjaya is not from India, he is from Washington and his votes come from the US; just like Lakeshas votes don't come from Africa. Closet racists LOVE AI and internet comment boards. Old people don't know they're old.

First, Sanjaya is not East Indian (from the East Indies). People from or with ancesty from India are called "Indian" (or Indian-American).

Second, I doubt that there's any way for people outside the US to vote in Idol except maybe via text-messaging (if their cell phones have a US phone #). The voting calls have to come from a USA area code.

As for Sanjaya's outlasting some of the "more talented" contestants, hey, he's cuter than some, has as good a voice (albeit soft and currently reined-in) as many of the other guys, and definitely has a look that would be more distinctive in today's pop music world than any of the other contestants except maybe Chris Sligh or Sundance Head. And I'm sure the judges' piling on and other Idol execs' manipulations often produce as much backlash (hence votes FOR the chosen scapegoat) as they take votes away.

I have heard that Sanjaya's voice sounds great on recordings and the mp3s of his Idol performances (available at the AI website) are getting praise even from many of his detractors.

If I were to go to the AI6 tour concert, I'd probably enjoy seeing and hearing Sanjaya as much as I would Hayley, Phil Stacey, Chris Richardson, or most of the contestants who have been eliminated so far.

BTW, as for "not being able to hear" Sanjaya, or any other contestant, HELLO!
These contestants, along with all the backup singers and instrumentalists, are miked and amplified. It is the job of the sound engineers (mixers) to set sound levels, etc., not only to make the vocalists and instruments sound their best (EQ, reverb, etc.) but to help balance the component sounds so the louder instruments don't drown out the softer ones and the lead vocals stand out against the backup band and singers.

AI is not "the search for the loudest pipes." There is no excuse for any of the contestants being drowned up by the band or backup singers, even if the contestant chooses to sing in a soft, whispery style a la Nora Jones, Sade, Peggy Lee or even some of John Mayer's songs.
This is not the pre-Edison era where you had to have a big booming voice to be heard over the orchestra in an auditorium. :)

And Sanjaya is not the only Idol contestant whose voice has sometimes been drowned up by the too-loud backup music.

One thing to add.
I think right now a lot of Sanjaya's holding back and not projecting his voice or personality on stage is probably due to nerves and to his confidence having been shaken by the venom continually showered on him in the media and by the judges.
When he first auditioned for Idol, he thought his (more experienced) sister was a better vocalist and he seemed genuinely shocked and a bit embarrassed to have been told he was the better one. Had the judges been more encouraging and supportive during the semifinals -- after all, they put him but not Shamayli (sp?) through after Hollywood -- he might well have let a lot more excitement and energy show through in his performances.

I just hope he's capable of getting really mad at all the attacks and then channeling that energy into his performance tonight (and afterwards).

Hmmm..... WHAT A STUPID IDEA OF CALL CENTER CALLING FOR SANJAYA.......
do u think americans company are so liberal they will allow outgoing call from there call centers without even recording a single call?....

I DONT THINK SO.........
Try to find some other execuse....LOL

Ridiculos theory !!! I work with Indian contractors here in Minneapolis and none of them even know about this show. I cannot imagine call center people in India voting for this early their morning. It must be the teenage girls and votefortheworst.com that must be helping this guy

Well here it is... I am an Indian, and let me tell you all that Sanjaya stinks! I absolutely hate it that he is still there. And I know of the huge Indian community here, who also feel the same. So I dont believe that many Indians here in the US vote for him at all.
As far as Indian call centers go, you may not know it, but most people in India do not know and neither care about American idol. They have Indian idol to worry about, a syndicated show of Amrican Idol. Moreover, the people who are in call centers are so busy, they dont have the time to try and get through for voting, and neither they can, as all their calls are monitored. So this theory does not hold water.
What is a good possibility is websites like Vote for the Worst, where warped minds get a kick out of making this show a pain to watch.

dear whoever wrote post,

first, votefortheworst.com .kthnx

personally, i don't think it was the calling centers in India alone. It could've been. But I don't have proof of it. Actually, you don't have proof of that either, so not sure why you're mouthing off your so called "theories".

and the fact that ppl can call in muliple times: its always been a flaw in the system. American Idol isn't Star Search. AI is pure democracy. Ppl can vote (muliple times). Star Search has some authenticity of it. AI doesn't. It's a stupid show, im sorry. So things like this are prone to happen. ESPECIALLY when you have Howard Stern and all of the morning radio shows mobilizing their listeners to vote for Sanjaya.

This isn't soley about race, albeit a factor. It's about people trying to have fun with the situation. It's fun when people starve themselves over a stupid show. We want to see how far this goes. And if Simon really quits b/c Sanjaya wins, GOOD. Simons a jerk.

But don't say it's only Indn call centers. You're just perpetuating the race problem by calling it one.

I am quite surprised by this line of thought. Its very clear that no one here as an idea of how a call center works. Most of the so called indian call centers are US corporations with a call center based in india. Every outgoing call is not only logged but also monitored as even if its cheap but it still costs to make an overseas call and the corporations evrywhere want to save money every possible way. Please get some knowledge of the way things work before starting a hoax.

I am amazed that people are believing that Indian call centers are playing a role in this. Seriously, if you operate a call center and hundreds of calls go to a 1-800 number every week what would you do? Its matter of paying for bandwidth, worker productivity etc, esp. when your profit margins are razor thin. Not every Indian is a call-center worker and even if you count it is no more than half-a million, the whole thing annoys me. Do you guys really believe an Indian Call center operator is concerned about American idol early morning 6:00 a.m.

This post is nothing but stereotyping all Indians are on hold, waiting for your call to fix computers. Duh!!!

I am in US and I did not know about him, till this whole ethinic hoopla started.

A nice conspiracy theory. One more thing, all Indians are glued to World Cup Cricket News than American Idol news. If you dont take enough time to understand us, dont judge us.

thank you.

What non-sense.... Its all staged guys... I'am an Indian and i know atleast 100 Indians here in the United States. Over the weeks i have never seen any of my friend voting for him and moreover i have not seen a single forum publishing his number or a dialing software to use...
Now, after reading the above comments, i'am thinking of writing an auto dialer software and hook it up with Skype, and keep my computer running thru out the night to vote for him...

the page at http://testpattern.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/04/03/109699.aspx summed up the comments. The reason I'm posting is that not one of the comments here that lambaste the theory mention VOIP. VOIP can easily allow someone to make a call from overseas appear to come from a local US number, and a 1-800 number, although would be logged, is still a free call for them. All of the indian call centers use VOIP, there is no other way to make them cheap. The companies that run the call centers don't own them, they're managed by Indians that have the same pride as their workers, so I can easily see them turning a blind eye to it.

The race accusation, indians voting for another indian descent, is as stupid, racist and naive as, whites voting for whites. White folks, interestingly, so far, it has been white folks, who have raised that to me. Given the same premises, I have simply said, your decision on whom to vote is easy, and I know who you voted for than? I think, my white friends who asked me, are those who vote for their white counterparts based on only one reason, the person they are voting for is white, and that is why they think everybody else is doing the same. George Busy got elected, did he not?

First, I am not an indian. But I think we need this kid to win.

American Idol is not about singing contest. It's a showbiz. The indian is very charming, and he can perform on stage very well.

Others are just boring. why do I need to watch some boring people singing in a reality show??

BTW: He actually can sing right on the notes, even though his vocal is weak.

Wish he previal.

Okay the kid sucks. We all know that. If the call center is indeed being used, kudos to them! I highly doubt it though - I've lived in India and corporations are far more tightly controlled than here.

In either case, posing the question *does* smack of racism (a teensy bit). I hope you lose your job to some guy in Bangalore. Now that would be hilarious.

My company outsourced to India last year. The calls come in to the U.S. on a New Jersey land line, then all calls are charged as if they are placed from NJ not India, and appear to be dialed from NJ. I believe the author has a very valid point which requires research and investigation. Also, some of your blog comments are very, very humorous indeed!